First Week of School

The girls just finished their first week of school.  An  exciting week for both!  And a whirlwind of  earlier bedtimes, morning drop offs, afternoon pick ups, new teachers and old teachers, lunchboxes and  backpacks. We made it every day on time...which is kind of a big deal for us, sadly.  I know the girls are both going to have a great year!

 We kicked off the year a few days before 

school officially started with Kindergarten Meet the Teacher Day.

Audrey knows her teacher well (it is Natalie's teacher from 2nd grade

last year) but we went to the "meet and greet" anyway to make starting

Kindergarten as exciting for Audrey as possible!  

This teacher had the opportunity over the summer to move to kindergarten

(where she started out years ago) and took it!  

We like to think that she made the move just so she didn't 

have to wait a few years to have the second-born, 

super darling, super smart Brooks girl!

 And then the day before school we celebrated

the only appropriate way to celebrate the end 

of an epic summer vacation...

ICE CREAM!!

 The first day of school started in our typical

family fashion with signs and special plates 

and special cups and special wishes!

 Yup.  They are the cutest girls I know!

 And growing up waaaay to fast for my liking!

 Natalie's going to have a great year, too.  

Her class size is 5 kids smaller than the previous two years

(which will make a noticeable difference!) and her teacher

seems very calm and positive.  Two things Natalie loves

in a teacher.  Already in the first week she's learned some 

cursive and helped create a class newsletter!

Not much tires Audrey out enough to make her 

fall asleep before dinner.  But the first week

of Kindergarten sure did!  This is how we found 

her when we called her for dinner on Friday evening...

cashed out cold in Daddy's chair!

Here's to the start of another great year!

Gold Country Camping

We had our last trip of the summer:  a camping trip to the Gold Country!  What a great weekend it was.  The campground is called Willow Creek, located right on Hwy 49, and our campsite could not have been closer to the creek.  It's as if it was there only for us.  And the creek was still flowing...which amazed us!

Corey brought gold panning equipment and managed to collect, along with any kid who would help him, a few specks and flakes.  We went with our good friends and all five kids played beautifully all weekend, alternating between splashing in the creek and ruling the road with their razor scooters.

We decided to make the meals an exact replica of last month's camping trip which made it so simple to prep and pack.  We did the hobo pies on the fire again and they tasted amazing.  The kids are all pretty good card players so when they were ready for some downtime there was always a game going.  And Natalie managed to find time for some nature painting.  Love that creative kid.

Did I mention what a great weekend it was?  Another campsite we'll have to revisit for sure!

Until next year, Willow Creek!

Daddy Day

A few weekends ago Corey took the girls to spend the day at the California Academy of Sciences. We bought a family pass last year and even though we've more than gotten our money's worth out of it, he wanted to enjoy it one more time before it expired.  It's such an amazing place.  I was torn (for a brief minute) between going with them or staying home in silence after a very busy summer of constant kiddos.  Silence won.   Sorry Cal Academy.

But Corey and the girls had an awesome time, as usual.  They love to go on Sundays because there is a craft project in the morning.  These girls are ALWAYS up for a craft project.

 Look at that concentration

The exhibit right now is Color of Life so there seemed to be even more colorful animals, insects and fish than ever.  The girls always love the rainforest dome where they climb a spiraling ramp from the forest floor to the canopy and see all the wildlife from bottom to top.  The butterflies and birds they took pictures of were amazing.

I asked Audrey what she was so surprised to find
in this planter and she said, "that pink leaf, Mommy."

And they also got to see an exhibit of African penguins.  The girls loved how the penguins all had arm bands (or bracelets, according to Natalie) which noted which ones were males and which ones were female.  Males had bands on one wing and the females had a band on the opposite wing, but penguin couples had the same color band.  Cute.

After the museum, they explored the climbing trees in Golden Gate Park.  

So happy Corey loves to adventure with them.